


Pokemon Academy

by TiaNadiezja



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Original Characters - Freeform, School, reject darkness, take a silly setting seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-08 18:04:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8855587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiaNadiezja/pseuds/TiaNadiezja
Summary: Seven young women board a ship, to learn how to work in the world. But while there, they'll learn more than anyone intended them to.An attempt to treat the Pokemon setting seriously, without sacrificing the joy and optimism at its heart.





	1. From Pallet Town (Kiko)

Vermillion City

Only four students in Kanto had qualified for entry into the Lance Academy, and Kiko was the only one of the four who hadn’t attended the preparatory school in Cerulean. To get in essentially required skipping the traditional Pokèmon journey at age ten - you had to pass intense, difficult tests on science, on math, on engineering and logic and literature, that didn’t allow for a year away from studies. Most considered it impossible without the prep school classes; incredibly difficult with them.

Kiko had not found it easy, but it wasn’t as hard as all that.

“Char,” said the creature at her feet, and she smiled.

“You’ll have to go in your pokèball when the ship arrives,” she murmured, kneeling to stroke the creature’s head. Crimson, with smooth skin and blue eyes and a flaming tail, her Charmander nuzzled her hand even as he complained about the inevitable return to his container.

Kiko glanced again at the other students. All were better dressed than her - at least, she assumed they were better dressed. Cerulean was a huge city, the prefectural capital of Kanto, and urban styles were rather beyond her comprehension. Their clothes fit well, though, and were definitely tailored. Apparently, once aboard, she would receive uniforms for various situation; these would be tailored for her as well as the clothes that the other students had were.

She wore jeans. She wore a t-shirt, and comfortable sneakers that had been less comfortable in the better days they’d obviously seen. She had two pieces of luggage, full of personal possessions - pictures of her family, her current journal, a laptop computer and the expensive phone the Indigo League had sent her when she was accepted into the Academy and some knick-knacks she’d decorate her quarters at the Academy with.

The Academy was free. The prep schools were not - quite an industry had cropped up of trying to prepare students for the entrance exams, but only one or two schools in each region had proven up to the task of routinely getting even one or two students a year through those tests. The purpose of the Academy was simple.

The Academy was created by the League to save it.

There were the trainers, who did their traditional journeys then kept pressing forward. The staff at the Pokèmon Centers and the regional League headquarters. The professors who studied Pokèmon and helped young trainers start their journeys. The breeders who took care of Pokèmon and helped with eggs, in spite of apparently having no idea where the eggs came from. But the League was losing its contact with the world - relying on outside providers who didn’t understand Pokèmon as well as a trainer would to develop equipment and maintain its infrastructure, on trainers who didn’t actually understand how a pokèball or potion or the act of breeding Pokèmon or wildlife management worked to be its face and actually do those things.

The League needed trainers who were also breeders or engineers or wildlife managers, and everything that had been tried short of a massive, expensive intervention by the League itself had failed to produce them.

Kiko had also had to pass a test on macroeconomics.

A ship’s horn sounded, and she looked up. The Lance was pulling into dock. It was… huge. A twin-hulled catamaran the size of a large cruise ship - nearly a quarter of a kilometer long - it was painted white up to the deck and blue above, giving the general impression of an enormous Great Ball. A small flight deck rested astern, with three small helicopters and one larger twin-prop chopper parked, all of which were marked on the side with the League’s pokèball-and-lightning logo.

This was the Academy. Sprawling, roving, and with all the League’s usual lack of subtlety.

Kiko smiled and pulled Charmander’s pokèball from her belt. “In you go… it’s time for us to go aboard.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seven girls, one from each of the seven regions introduced in the main game series. That was the starting point of this story. From there, I made a few central decisions. The story would be set in a school, and that school needs to be mobile to capture the adventure inherent in the Pokemon setting. That led to the ship.
> 
> Why is Kiko from Pallet Town? Because she's the first character introduced, and Pallet Town is where everything starts.
> 
> At least until what I have written already runs out, there will be a post for this story each week. I've got eight chapters written now; that's two months of regular updates.


	2. From Olivine City (Saori)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sato Saori, from Olivine City in Johto, makes a new friend. Trouble starts to stir.

SS _Lance_ , In Port in Vermillion

  
It was very warm in Vermillion, and Saori smiled as she leaned against the railing and watched the four new students come aboard. Kanto was, apparently, the Lance’s last stop to pick up new students.  
A breeze ruffled her hair, and she laughed. Her laugh grew more delighted when she looked at the deck, where Chikorita was romping in circles around her strange dark-grey Slugma. “Slug,” the molten Pokèmon said, nudging the Plant-type dinosaur in an effort to get her to stop.

  
“Chikorita,” she called out. “If you’re going to play with Slugma, play nice.” Properly chastened, Chikorita hopped over to a chair that a small ball had rolled under, nudging it into rolling to Slugma.  
Saori watched her two Pokèmon pass the ball carefully back and forth for a few moments before seeing one of the new students approach. The girl was a little taller than her, with dark eyes and short hair and a startlingly appealing ease to her gait in spite of her obvious nerves.

  
“Hey,” Saori said, to spare the girl the need to break the ice. “I’m Saori, from Olivine. I’ve been aboard a couple of days… want me to show you around the parts of the ship I’ve visited?”  
The girl blushed, adorably, and when she spoke there was an accent that was from somewhere even further culturally removed from the bustle of Cerulean and Vermillion than Saori’s home in Johto was. “I… yes,” she said. “Whatever you can show me would be helpful. I’m Kiko…” Kiko stumbled as Chikorita scurried over to investigate her. “From Pallet Town. Near Pewter City. Hello,” she said then, lowering to look Chikorita in the eye.

  
Chikorita regarded Kiko cautiously for a moment, then leapt into her arms, tumbling her to the deck and forcing both Saori and Slugma to avoid being fallen on. In spite of the force with which she landed, Kiko broke out in laughter and hugged the tiny dinosaur. “You’re very enthusiastic,” she said as she set Chikorita aside. “I think Charmander would like you. Abra… maybe less.” Accepting Saori’s offered hand, she rose to her feet.

  
“Those are your Pokèmon?” Saori grinned. “I’ve never met a Charmander… always wanted to. We don’t have them in Johto.”  
“They’re rare in Kanto, too… basically don’t exist in the wild. Professor Oak breeds them for new trainers.” Kiko opened the two pokèballs at her belt, releasing her Pokèmon. Charmander immediately ran over to Slugma and pressed his flaming tail to the molten slug’s flank, warming them both; Abra folded her legs and sat, eyes closed, until Chikorita scampered over to investigate her. The moment Chikorita was nearly in reach, Abra vanished, appearing on Kiko’s head.

  
Both girls dissolved in giggles, falling into chairs on the deck.

  
_Maybe school won’t be lonely after all_ , Saori thought. _If I have friends like these._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have an immense amount of affection for Johto.
> 
> The Generation I Pokemon games were enjoyable, compelling, and just an absolute blast, but they were also a horrible mess of balance problems and glitches. Generation 2 cleaned them up, added breeding and more reasons to go exploring and any number of other major improvements. Lugia is still one of my favorite Legendary Pokemon. And then there was the return to Kanto after beating the Elite Four to see how a few years changed the setting of the first games. Plus, Crystal was the first game in the series to allow the player to pick their character's gender. As a trans woman who didn't come out until she was almost thirty years old, and thus was quite tired of being required to play a man after spending more than a quarter-century doing so constantly, I deeply appreciated that.
> 
> I liked the first set of games, but it was in Johto that I really fell in love with the setting and franchise.
> 
> I've now written through chapter 13, with commentary finished through chapter 12 and formatting for Archive through chapter 6.


	3. From Ever Grande City (Himiko)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bullies travel in packs, but having friends makes it easier to fend them off. A girl from the home of her region's Elite Four finds unexpected backup.

_SS_ Lance _, Departing Vermillion Bay_

Himiko smiled as she watched the two girls and their four Pokèmon head belowdecks, the Abra teleporting to meet them every few steps rather than bothering to walk. She’d met Saori briefly after the girl from Olivine came aboard - that was someone with a lot to live up to.

Perhaps not as much as Himiko herself did. Saori was the niece of a Gym Leader; Himiko had grown up in the shadow of her region’s Elite Four. Ever Grande City… she’d stood outside the Pokèmon Center at least once a week, swapping stories with those who’d bested the Gym Leaders of Hoenn, watched them enter that great building at the center of town to challenge the Elite Four, then watched again as they’d left empty-handed, beaten by Wallace of by one of his four direct underlings.

Maybe she should have followed Saori and the girl from Kanto, she thought, when she saw who was approaching her. Annabelle, one of the six new students from Kalos, was joined by the three friends she’d already made. Those three friends, and her clothes, all designer and white and perfect. Bob and Pattie were both from Unova, almost certainly siblings - there couldn’t possibly be two sets of parents capable of producing both those perfect coifs of light brown hair and those perfectly unnerving smirks. And Hiro, from Johto, far too pretty to be quite as mean as she’d already seen him be to some of the ship’s staff.

“So… the new kids from Kanto are here,” Annabelle said, leaning against the railing next to Himiko. “Any of them worth my time?”

“I really don’t know how you judge the value of your time,” Himiko replied, looking away. The receding view of Vermillion City was far, far more interesting than anything else around with the possible exception of Hiro, and she certainly wasn’t going to watch him.

“You’re rude,” Bob said, pressing himself to the railing on the other side of Himiko.

“I’m trying to think,” Himiko said, pushing away from the railing to walk away, only to find Pattie blocking her path away. “But that’s useless here, so I’m going to go back to my room.”

“Not ‘till you say you’re sorry to Annabelle. You do know who Annabelle is, don’t you?” Pattie was wearing that sneer.

“I’m sorry,” Himiko said - to Pattie, not to Annabelle. “But I didn’t get complete dossiers on all my classmates. So no, of course I don’t.”

“You need a lesson,” Bob muttered.

“Leave her be!” A high and startlingly pretty voice came from near the prow of the ship, and Himiko looked. The girl approaching was a redhead, an inch or two shorter than her. She was one of the other students from Unova… Rachel, maybe?

“Looks like two people need lessons,” Hiro said, stepping between the newcomer and the others. “What do you think, hon?”

“I think you’re right, _mon ami_ ,” Annabelle said. “Pattie… should the boys take care of this?”

“Nothing needs taking care of,” Himiko said. “I was leaving. I’m walking away.”

“Oh, yes…” Pattie giggled. Actually giggled. “They should.”

Bob balled up a fist, and Himiko winced at the thought of what was coming, before another voice yelled out, “Stop!”

“SHIIIII!” That cry was from a Pokèmon. The girl who was running toward them was wearing a sleeveless top over slightly-sunburnt arms, and shorter shorts than the school rules would allow on class days. No wonder, though… it was Liza, from Sinnoh - even the unseasonable mild weather in Vermillion probably felt excessively warm to her.

“Are you going to make them stop?” It was Pattie, again. Dear, sweet Pattie, who had spent the last two weeks constantly escalating situations.

“No,” Liza said. “But if you’re trying to beat them up, you can’t stop me from going and finding Professor Birch. Fighting’s against the rules.”

“... Pokèmon battle,” Annabelle decided. “You two, against the boys. One hour.” She looked at Liza. “You’d better go along, too. Referee it.” She started toward the doors going belowdecks, and a moment later the others set off after her. “Deck three arena. Don’t dare miss it.”

Then they were gone, and Liza was muttering, “Oh crap oh crap oh crap…” Reagan and Himiko ran over to calm her down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For all my love of the Generation 2 games, I skipped Generation 3 the first time around. Maybe it was that I was a little lacking in funds at the time, or lacking in time, or depressed, or maybe it was the lack of backward trading compatibility and unwillingness to leave behind my Charizard and my Raichu and my Umbreon and my Lugia, but I didn't buy Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald.
> 
> Playing through Alpha Sapphire last year convinced me that was a mistake. Hoenn and its lovely creatures would have been quite a positive addition to a fairly difficult time in my life.
> 
> Pokemon has always been about friendship, and that theme has grown stronger as the franchise has run, with the Generation 6 games giving the protagonist a gaggle of new friends to get to know through its story mode and the most recent games having what I can only read as a young mutual crush between the main character and one of the NPCs. Since part of my goal with this story is to stay true to the themes of the franchise, of course I want to keep friendship a core element here.
> 
> I have to admit that Annette draws a bit from Blue/Gary. I just hope that if she ends up with a catchphrase, it's better than "Smell ya later!"


	4. From Snowpoint City (Liza)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From the frozen peaks of Sinnoh, Liza has come to... mostly be shy and help strategize. Strategy is, after all, everything.

**_SS_ ** **Lance** **_, Deck 3_ **

“They’re the  _ worst _ ,” Rachel was saying. “And I’ve known Annabelle since I was a little girl. She’s always been like that.”

“You’re from different regions,” Himiko replied as they entered the arena. This one was bare-bones - the more complex, configurable arenas weren’t accessible to students without faculty help. Force fields protected the hardwood floor and padded walls from damage by lightning or fire, and the decoration was simply a set of lines demarkating what parts of the arena were in-bounds with the League logo in the center of the room. Benches, rather than bleachers, lined the walls, allowing a small group of people to watch the battles. “How do you know her?”

“Her grandfather runs a company… a big one. He funded a few of my parents’ works,” Rachel said in a voice that didn’t indicate a desire to delve any deeper into the topic. “Point being, she’s terrible, and she’s now found a whole pod of other terrible people. So what do we do about it?”

_ They’re insane. There’s no winning this. _ Liza looked between the other two girls, both taller than her. Rachel’s slender grace, Himiko’s more generous beauty. Rachel’s eyes were grey, Himiko’s a dark brown, but they both had the same steely glint in them. Still, there was always reason… “There’s no good reason to battle them, you know,” she ventured. “If you lose, it’s embarrassing. If you win, they’ll just find some other way to make your lives miserable.”

“Good point,” Himiko said. “But if we run, they’ll hold that over our heads forever. Besides, we’ve got something they don’t.”

“What’s that?” Rachel and Liza asked together.

“Person who’s cheering us on is actually worth having as a friend.” Himiko grinned to Liza.

It was a pretty grin, and Liza was for once relieved at her sunburn. It hid the blush that would have, at home, been painfully visible. “Oh.”

“Do you have any idea what Pokèmon either of them has?” Himiko asked Rachel.

“I know Bob’s got a Venipede,” Rachel said. “And I saw Hiro with a Purrloin, but it might have been Annabelle’s.”

“Bob has a Poochenya, too,” Liza said. “It looked pretty tough.”

“It would have to be, to put up with Bob,” Himiko said, and Rachel laughed quietly. “Right. Purrloin and Poochenya are both problems for me. My Ralts is going to be quicker than a Venipede, but can’t really touch either of those…”

“Timburr can handle them, though,” Rachel said. “Unless Hiro’s got a trick up his sleeve. I don’t expect Bob is clever enough to have tricks…”

“Bob’s not clever,” Liza said. “But he’s mean. Maybe the meanest of them. And that can replace clever.”

“Good point,” Himiko said. “But I think we’ve got a plan.”

“I… good luck.” Liza said.

She wanted to offer more. The blessings of Arceus, perhaps, or one of the stories the old women in her town told to remind the young people of what they were capable of, that what was right would always eventually beat out what was wrong. But she couldn’t call an appropriate one to mind, and sometimes people from big cities or from outside Sinnoh got weird when you talked about Arceus. Her new acquaintances - friends, she hoped, very pretty friends, and she needed to get that part out of her mind - were probably both. So luck was what she could offer.

“You can win if you’re good or if you’re lucky. You  _ will _ win if you’re good and you’re lucky,” Rachel said. “Guess we’re going to win.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Pokèmon Platinum.
> 
> Sinnoh is one of my favorite regions, alongside Alola and Johto, and its deep-winter presentation in Platinum is simply brilliant. Beautiful. Breath-stealing. The scale of each game in Pokemon has exceeded that of the game before, and Platinum's use of the entirety of the second-largest of Japan's islands was a huge step in that. Three great starters, one of which was a penguin, and a ton of my very favorite Pokemon in the series rounded out the games that brought me back to the franchise.
> 
> I'll be talking about names a bit in these comments. When I name characters in the Pokemon franchise, I try to use names that draw from the languages spoken in the places the regions are based on. So Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn all use Japanese names, while Sinnoh uses a mix of Japanese and Russian names due to Hokkaido's high Russian population. When characters from Pokemon canon show up, I'll be using their names from the English translations of the franchise to avoid confusion. It looks weird, but it feels right to me.


	5. From Castelia City (Rachel)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To stop a bully, you have to show strength, which works much better when you have friends. Rachel joins Himiko in a battle against Bob and Hiro, to make clear that they will not be frightened of Annabelle's clique.

Battling alongside a partner she barely knew, against opponents who had bonded quite quickly in their devotion to someone who apparently had set as her life’s goal becoming the local queen bully of every place she went. This was not how Rachel wanted to start the last weekend before classes.

But there was not much choice. If you backed down before a bully, they would expect you to back down every time; if you stood firm, they would think twice before crossing you again.

“You ready?” Himiko offered her a smile.

“Every time,” Rachel replied, letting an easy smile settle on her face. Sometimes, one’s whole childhood being an acting class helped.

She was here to build a life and a reputation separate from what her parents had made in Unova’s theater scene. This moment would be her first step.

“The battle will be four on four,” Liza said, standing in the middle of the arena. “Each team will consist of two players, who will use two Pokèmon each. The trainers have each selected their Pokèmon, and must select which they will send out first now. The match will end once all Pokèmon on one team are knocked out, when a team forfeits, or in the case of a disqualification. Continuing to attack a defeated opponent will be grounds for disqualification.” She inhaled, looking toward Hiro and Bob. It was traditional, in formal matches, for some show of respect to be requested by the referee.

Wisely, Liza skipped that step, instead turning and walking out of the center of the arena to stand just out of bounds. “Begin!”

“Ralts! I choose you!” Himiko was quickest on the draw, a red-and-white pokèball flying through the air to reveal the small, white humanoid Pokèmon.

“Poochenya, go!” Bob smirked as he sent out his Pokèmon, which drew some extra confidence from Rachel.

“Timburr!” Her Fighting-type friend would be able to make quick work of the Poochenya.

“Noibat.” Hiro’s voice was the loudest of the four, and the large-eared bat burst from its ball, soaring over the room.

Poochenya spotted Ralts, leaping toward her, but came up empty - the Psychic-type simply teleported out of its way. Noibat was a larger problem, swooping about Timburr’s head and peppering Rachel’s Pokèmon with blasts of sound. Timburr was tough - remarkably so - but the attacks were taking their toll.

And Ralts could not keep dodging forever.

 _Get it closer, Himiko_. She couldn’t call Timburr back until Poochenya was down. They needed its Type advantage; Poochenya was immune to Ralts’s attacks.

“Now, Ralts!” Himiko grinned, snapping her fingers, and Ralts vanished.

Everything seemed to freeze as Poochenya looked around urgently for its prey. It took a moment, in the chaos, for Rachel to realize that Noibat wasn’t attacking Timburr.

“Ralts! Confusion!” Himiko snapped her fingers, and there was a _buzz_ in the air. Everyone looked up at the same time, to find Ralts there, hovering directly above Noibat, holding herself up telekinetically. Noibat shuddered under telepathic attack, flying in a quick circle before crashing into the ground.

“Timburr! Pound!” Timburr lifted his heavy plank and drove it down onto Noibat once, twice.

“Noibat is defeated!” Liza couldn’t keep the excitement out of her voice.

“Low Kick!” Rachel grinned as Timburr turned his attention to Poochenya, and Ralts sank to the floor again, looking half-exhausted.

“Ralts, come back!”

“Purrloin, go!” Hiro was angry, now, and Ralts vanished just in time to avoid being leapt on by the feline Pokèmon.

“Trapinch, I choose you!”

The battle realigned itself immediately, with Timburr delivering a crushing kick to Poochenya. The dog retaliated with a nasty bite, which Timburr seemed to shrug off.

Fighting was strong against Dark, both offensively and defensively, but after the peppering Timburr had received from Noibat, Rachel wasn’t sure he could handle much more even so.

“Trapinch, Mud Slap!” Himiko clapped her hands.

“Dodge it,” Annabelle yelled out.

“Fury Swipes!” Hiro screamed.

The antlion Pokèmon kicked mud - from where, no one could know - at Purrloin, which tried to duck out of the way, but a fair bit of it got onto the cat’s face. Into the cat’s eyes. It stumbled past Trapinch and Timburr both, shaking its head to clear the mud just in time to see Timburr fell Poochenya.

They still needed Timburr to fight Purrloin, and the Fighting-type’s exhaustion was showing.

“Venipede, you’re up!” Bob threw his second pokèball into the arena, and from it came a foot-and-a-half tall red centipede. This was where they needed Ralts.

Ralts, who was already exhausted from bringing down Noibat.

Ralts, who couldn’t face Purrloin at all.

They’d brought down half their opponents’ teams, but the fight was still up in the air. That Hiro and Bob had each brought a Dark-type was the problem.

“Try to keep Venipede off Timburr,” Rachel said.

“Got it. Trapinch, Feint!”

She was only going to get one more go at Purrloin before they’d have to throw the whole plan out. She had to make it count. Trapinch was relatively fresh; it could handle both opponents for a moment. “Timburr, Focus Energy!”

Timburr lowered his plank, concentrating, drawing his… chi? Energy? Magic?... to him. Purrloin leapt toward him, only to be cut off by Trapinch.

Trapinch couldn’t keep them both off Timburr. Too slow. She had to go.

“Now! Low Kick!”

“Venipede, Poison Sting on Timburr!”

Everyone moved at once, with Trapinch trying to distract Venipede with a blast of conjured mud. A moment too late. Just as Timburr’s kick landed, Venipede fired off a toxin-laced dart that stuck in Timburr’s shoulder.

Both Purrloin and Timburr fell.

“Purrloin and Timburr have been defeated!” Liza bit her lip, looking apologetically at Rachel.

 _Sorry, Timburr._ “Archen, go!”

“Trapinch, good job! Ralts, finish it off!”

Archen exploded from her pokèball, swooping immediately toward Venipede, while Ralts raised a small hand and unleashed a telepathic blast. Venipede, already tired, fell immediately.

“Venipede has been defeated. Himiko and Rachel win!” Liza started to bounce up and down as Bob called Venipede back, and Himiko ran over to hug Rachel then Liza in quick succession.

“... Come on, boys,” Annabelle said over Liza’s whoops of celebration. “They’re not worth the time.”

Hiro cast a dark look at Rachel over his shoulder as the four of them left the arena in defeat.

_Trouble. Why does trouble always find me?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never finished Pokemon Black, and never bought Black 2/White 2. It wasn't because I didn't enjoy them - I very much did, and I especially appreciated the effort at getting us out of our complacent gaming syndrome by not offering any Gen1-4 Pokemon during the main story. Also, the total lack of Zubats in the game.
> 
> I got distracted during my playthrough of Black by breeding. Arriving at the day care is the most hazardous point in my play of any Pokemon game - I get stuck on breeding tons of whatever my favorites to that point are, and forget to actually keep playing the game. In Moon, I didn't let myself do any breeding at all until after I beat the main story to avoid that exact fate.
> 
> Unova is based on New York - in particular, Manhattan - and is the most urban of the regions. Rachel's backstory will be explored later, but it is also very New York. I've never been to New York... my girlfriend says I should go. One day she'll take me. Maybe that'll let me write Rachel better.


End file.
